Kindergarten ∴ Quarter 1 ∴ Scientists and Engineers
What Your Child Will Learn in Kindergarten Science: Quarter 1
A strong foundation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) will put your
child on the road to success in school and beyond. Important critical-thinking skills will cultivate
the great thinkers and innovators of tomorrow and promote better-educated citizens. Next
Generation Science Standards (NGSS) - developed by teachers, scientists, and leaders in
science and science education from around the country - focus on the big ideas in science and
emphasize the common practices that scientists use every day. During each quarter of
Kindergarten, your child will participate in a unit of scientific and engineering instruction, through
an inquiry-based approach.
NSTA (2014). Next Generation Science Standards, Parent Q & A: Fostering Science Learning to Last a Lifetime.
Target Statements:
• Scientists and engineers have different responsibilities but work together to solve
problems.
• I can describe the job of a scientist.
• I can describe the job of an engineer.
• I can describe ways in which scientists and engineers work together.
• Scientists investigate the world around them and gather evidence related to
questions asked.
• I can discover how scientists study the world.
• I can identify the tools that a scientists uses.
• Engineers work to design solutions to problems using the Engineering Design
Process.
• I can identify the five steps in the Engineering Design Process.
Vocabulary:
• observe
• compare
• experiment
• tool
• senses
• design
• scientist
• investigation
• problem
• engineer
• structure
• solution
• Engineering Design Process: Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve
Home Connections (optional):
• Explore with magnets
• Take a walk during each season, using each of the five senses to make
observations about your surroundings.
• Explore with thermometers and discuss difference in temperatures
• Build with a variety of blocks
• Play a game that requires collaborative work
• NSTA “Science Resources for Parents”: http://www.nsta.org/parents/
Materials to be collected:
Everyday items will often be used to support students’ scientific investigations. In this
unit, we will require a large number of:
• empty toilet paper rolls
• empty paper towel rolls
© Elementary Science Office • Howard County Public School System • 2014-2015
Kindergarten ∴ Quarter 1 ∴ Scientists and Engineers
If possible, please send in these items with your child during the start of the quarter.
The eight Scientific and Engineering Practices describe the behaviors and habits of
mind that are necessary to make students’ knowledge of content more meaningful. The
term “practices,” instead of a term such as “skills,” is used to stress that engaging in
scientific inquiry requires coordination both of knowledge and skill simultaneously. Acquiring
skills in these practices supports a better understanding of how scientific knowledge is
produced and how engineering solutions are developed. Such understanding will help
students become more critical consumers of scientific information.
Practice
Asking Questions
(Scientist) and
Defining Problems
(Engineer)
What This “Looks Like” for a Kindergarten Student
•
•
•
Ask simple descriptive questions, based on observations, which can be
tested to find more information about the natural and/or designed
world(s).
Define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a
new or improved object or tool.
Distinguish between a model and the actual object, process, and/or
events the model represents.
Use and develop models (i.e., diagram, drawing, physical replica,
diorama, dramatization, or storyboard) that represent concrete events or
design solutions.
Developing and
using Models
•
Planning and
Carrying Out
Investigations
•
With guidance, plan and conduct simple investigations, based on fair
tests, which provide data to support explanations or design solutions.
Analyze and
Interpret Data
•
Collect, record, and share observations to describe patterns and/or
relationships in the natural and designed world(s) in order to answer
scientific questions and solve problems.
Use Mathematics
and Computational
Thinking
•
Describe, measure, and/or compare quantitative attributes of different
objects and display the data using simple graphs.
Use quantitative data to compare two alternative solutions to a problem.
Constructing
Explanations
(Scientist) and
Designing Solutions
(Engineer)
•
•
•
Engaging in
Argument from
Evidence
•
•
Obtaining,
Evaluating, and
Communicating
Information
•
•
•
Make observations (firsthand or from media) to construct an evidencebased account for natural phenomena.
Generate and/or compare multiple solutions to a problem.
Identify and construct arguments that are supported by evidence.
Analyze why some evidence is relevant to a scientific question and some
is not.
Distinguish between opinions and evidence in one’s own explanations.
Obtain information using various grade-appropriate texts, text features,
and other media that will be useful in answering a scientific question
and/or supporting a scientific claim.
Communicate information or design ideas and/or solutions with others in
oral and/or written forms
Source: NGSS Appendix F (2013) – Science and Engineering Practices in the NGSS
© Elementary Science Office • Howard County Public School System • 2014-2015